O Lord, you have searched me and known me. (Psalm 139:1)

Today's reflection is by Kori Pacyniak,

Member of the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Boston University

Hide and seek has always been one of my favorite games. I loved finding the perfect place to hide – the place no one would find me. Once I ended up hiding on top of a wardrobe (people rarely look up) and another time inside a coat in a closet. There was always a thrill when people came close but still didn’t see me – it was as if I’d developed a super power, a way of seeing things others did not. Recently, I was playing hide and seek with my four-year-old niece in her parents’ sparsely furnished house and realized there was nowhere to hide. I pressed myself into corners and behind sofas, trying desperately not to be seen. When she found me, she exploded into giggles and squeals of delight, cherishing the moment. That’s how I imagine God – rejoicing upon finding us.

I used to have a button “I’ve found God, now it’s my turn to hide” and claimed that was my motto. But why hide from God? What was I afraid of? After all, this is the same God who formed me, who knows all of my desires. This is not a God who chastises, but one who delights in creation. A God who knows us in all of our humanity. We each have our reasons for occasionally hiding from God and there is vulnerability in the psalmist’s verse, but we should remember that there is nothing to fear in being found by God but an explosion of love and childish delight. As we journey through Lent, I invite us to stop hiding and to let ourselves be found, searched, and truly known by God.